There’s no rest for the wicked, as one of Freeland’s biggest villains dies while another one makes his rise
After the events in last week’s Black Lightning, Lynn (Christine Adams) is downstairs at Gambi’s (James Remar) shop checking the damage made to Anissa’s (Nafessa Williams) body during the fight between her and Black Lightning’s fight. While they are downstairs, Gambi and Jefferson (Cress Williams) are in the main part of the shop, where Jefferson expresses his anger for Gambi not telling him that Tobias (Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III) was back in town. The trust between the two is clearly starting to break at the seams from this feeling of betrayal. Lynn has gone into hiding in Gambi’s shop. During all of this, Tobias is in a ring gearing up to fight someone that he soon learns is on Green Light and learns why he is able to endure Tobias’ punches for so long. The next day, Lynn and Jefferson go to the police about the two men that broke into her lab, where a sketcher draws them out and sends them over to Lady Eve (Jill Scott). She sends her cronies to kill the two men immediately. Jefferson and Lynn speculate the different possibilities of why the two men came after Lynn in the first place.
Later, we learn that the incident of Anissa destroying the Confederate general statue was reported to the police and they’re looking into it. Anissa is on a mission to get back into the streets and fight the bad guys but her dad isn’t so quick to let her do it. She’s being “selfish and reckless” with her powers and research and we’re eventually lead to assume that her research is the reason for David Poe’s death. Lynn tries to warn Anissa away from using her powers to help others, but she says “she’s willing to sacrifice her happiness so that other people can have theirs. Seeing that Anissa’s mind isn’t going to change on the matter, Lynn asks Jefferson to train Anissa and Gambi to make her a more protective suit.
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Lady Eve meets with Gambi to discuss the problems that Tobias has been causing now that he isn’t staying underground anymore. Gambi wants to take him out of the equation completely but Lady Eve isn’t so keen on the idea. She tells him that he can take out Toledo (Eric Mendenhall) instead. Gambi goes to the club and kills Toledo - leaving Lady Eve’s calling card of a small box filled with albino ashes in it. Once Tobias receives the ashes and the news that Toledo is dead, he retaliates by sending over his own men to Lady Eve to show that he isn’t afraid of her. In the last ten minutes of the episode, Jefferson ambushes Tobias and his crew which ends in Tobias’ sister dying. All of this happens while Tobias’ men are at Lady Eve’s parlor. They’re shooting at her with guns that are sending electrical shots similar to the ones Black Lightning can shoot. When the police get to the parlor, they find Lady Eve burned. As the news reports on the story that has painted Black Lightning as the suspect, we span over a hotel bed where LaLa (William Catlett) pops up and sees LaWanda. She evaporates into smoke and reappears as a tattoo on his chest. “Do you believe in the resurrection, Latavius?”
This week’s episode ended with a huge WTF moment! Let’s see how our roundtable felt about!
Here to discuss this crazy episode is our Black Lightning roundtable:
Caitlin (@wlwcaitlin) - Writer and fictional lady enthusiast
Makayla (@keiyswally) - Kid Flash enthusiast
Nicollz (@mspurple360) - singer, activist, lover of all things gay
Laya (@LGBTQMAREE) - lover of iris west and black female characters. tv enthusiast
Brianna (@notevenloaded) - Iris West/Candice Patton enthusiast and MCU apologist.
1. Do you agree that it was selfish and reckless for Anissa to be carelessly going around getting help and information on her grandfather’s work from everyone?
Caitlin (@wlwcaitlin): I definitely don’t think she intended to be selfish. All she knew at the time was that she was looking for information on her powers; I don’t think she expected it to lead to something bigger.
Makayla (@keiyswally): Anissa was just curious about her powers and everything else. It was reckless, but I don’t think it was selfish. Yes, she was doing it to find out more about her powers, but she also did it to look more into the corruptness of the town and the 100. She was warned that looking into it could cause people to come after her and those involved, so she could’ve made the choice not to involve other people and risk their lives.
Nicollz (@mspurple360): No, I don’t believe it was selfish at all. There were things going on with her body that she was just trying to gain some understanding on naturally and until her father spoke to her about her grandfather, she really wasn’t aware of the dangers of what getting involved may lead to, nor any idea of what she was getting into. I have to believe she would’ve handled things a lot differently.
Laya (@LGBTQMAREE): I think she should have really thought more about what she was doing and how it would affect others.
Brianna (@notevenloaded): Yes, I do. I understand why she was doing it but there’s more to the story, and I don’t think she realized there would be big consequences to her questioning.
2. Lynn mentioned that Jennifer may get powers too. Do you think her powers will show up anytime soon and any guesses on what kind of powers she’ll have?
Caitlin: I know in the comics Jennifer has similar powers to Jefferson, so it’ll probably be something along those lines. As for when, I’d say towards the end of the season.
Makayla: Lynn mentioning Jennifer getting powers, makes me believe that Jennifer is going to get her powers soon. As for what the powers will be, if the show sticks to the comics then Jennifer’s powers will be close to Jefferson’s. Hence, the reason her superhero name is ‘Lightning’.
Nicollz: If I’m not mistaken I think her powers came out during her scuffle with the girls from school at the skating rink. As far as what type of powers she’ll have, probably super strength but I’m not entirely sure what else at this moment in time.
Laya: Definitely think her powers are coming soon and as for what her powers will be, well she isn’t gonna be called Lighting for no reason.
Brianna: I hope so!!! I’m not sure what they’ll be though.
3. Were you surprised at Tobias’ response to finding the Green Light?
Caitlin: Not really. It would make sense for him to want more money in the long run, and Green Light will only continue to kill people and therefore reduce his customers. He may want to rethink his business strategy moving forward.
Makayla: Tobias did look a bit shocked that the guy was taking Green Light. Which surprised me because you would think he could tell when someone was taking it considering its unique side effects.
Nicollz: Yeah, that threw me. I thought Tobias was the one handling Green Light in the first place, so wouldn’t he know how the drug reacts on people?
Laya: Honestly, I was. At first, I thought he generally cared but really he just wants to make money and then it was back to me not being surprised with him at all.
Brianna: Yeah, I was genuinely surprised.
4. Any theories on what the “ecosystem” Gambi and Lady Eve discussed entails?
Caitlin: I can only assume they mean the food chain in regards to Freeland. Lady Eve sees herself at the top while everyone else is underneath her. Keeping things the way they are and allowing her to continue to be at the top.
Makayla: I’m not really sure what they meant by ‘ecosystem’ but it’s obvious that Gambi has helped Lady Eve shape the city into what it is now. It’s clear they’ve been working together for years. Gambi definitely knows more than he’s letting on.
Nicollz: It has to do with keeping a balance between the different levels of Freeland gangs so that the people involved know there is a limit or lines that don’t get crossed without repercussions.
Laya: They have certainly been putting all these things into place and putting people around. It’s almost like they are trying to control the outcome of what happens to everyone.
Brianna: I’m gonna be honest…no.
5. Gambi killed Toledo, which caused Tobias to retaliate and go after Lady Eve, resulting in her death. What are your thoughts on this series of events that lead to Black Lightning being framed?
Caitlin: I feel mostly irritated by every decision Gambi makes at this point. However, with Lady Eve gone, it would make sense for Black Lightning to be framed so that Tobias could be uncontested at the top of the food chain.
Makayla: Gambi killing Toledo definitely caused a spiral of things to happen that caused Black Lightning to be blamed for Lady Eve’s death. I think everyone is curious as to who those men were that used the guns that killed Lady Eve. It seems like it was intentional to make it look like Black Lightning was the one who killed her.
Nicollz: I still wonder about Gambi as far as his where his loyalties lie especially now that Lady Eve was killed too. It makes me wonder if he’ll start to question Black Lightning. Seeing as the cops believe it was him, I think it was always Tobias’ intention to frame Black Lightning to get him off his tail and get the city to question his status as a protector and make people lose hope.
Laya: It’s like no matter what Black Lighting does he always gets some kind of backlash. Gambi talks a good game about caring about Black Lighting and yet all he has done is bring more hardship onto Jefferson. Truthfully, Gambi isn’t worth the trouble he is causing.
Brianna: It’s kinda brilliant! I wasn’t expecting it. I’m sad to see Lady Eve go because Jill Scott has been doing an amazing job but it definitely raises the stakes for Jefferson/Black Lightning.
6. Even though Anissa said she’s willing to sacrifice her happiness so that others can have theirs, she still reached out to Grace. Do you think her desire to use her powers will cause a conflict in their relationship in the future if they reconnect?
Caitlin: I think the difference with Grace is that she’s understanding. In the comics, she has powers too so they are always side by side in that regard. Even if she doesn’t get her powers on the show, I think the difference between Grace and Anissa’s previous girlfriend is that she’s a good listener and is compassionate. Still, it probably will create waves somewhere down the line.
Makayla: I know Anissa is willing to give up her happiness but seeing her call Grace regardless of making that statement shows that she still wants to be happy in some way. Hopefully, she can at least have a good, healthy relationship as she becomes Thunder.
Nicollz: It may be too early to decide how things may turn out. Grace seems open to learning and understanding the unknown so she may be intrigued by it. They developed a really nice relationship as far as listening and being a voice to give advice if necessary.
Laya: I don’t think so. I mean I’m a comic book nerd so I’m already in the mindset of a canon Anissa and Grace. Plus Grace is such a comic nerd that she’s definitely gonna be more interested in Anissa and her powers rather than turned off by them.
Brianna: Oh I’m almost positive, I feel like they might parallel Jeff/Lynn in a lot of ways. I also hope we see Grace being half-Amazonian come to fruition in the future.
7. What are your thoughts on that shocking last scene of the episode?
Caitlin: I honestly have no idea what was going on in that final scene, but it was probably the most shocking so far! If these people really are alive again, then I would assume just about anyone could be resurrected, which would be bad for Jefferson.
Makayla: The last scene brought so many emotions. When she turned into a tattoo on his chest, I was so shocked!
Nicollz: I was a little shocked at the ending. I don’t understand how it’s possible that Lala is alive again and I’m wondering if LaWanda is as well or if she’s just a figment of his imagination. I’m really interested to find out how this changes things going forward.
Laya: I wish I had a true thought on it but I don’t. Just ready to get some answers.
Brianna: Ummmm, literally W T F is my response. I’m lowkey super excited though!!
A wild plot twist and a framed superhero brought one of the best plot-centered episodes yet
“The Book of Fate” moved the plot for a lot of characters forward and put a stop on some in this week’s episode. We got three deaths and a resurrection that we were not at all expecting. Who knew that title of episode one wasn’t just referring to Black Lightning returning to the streets of Freeland? We have an old player hopping back in the ring to battle with Tobias and Black Lightning, and it’s sure to be one hell of a showdown in the end. We’re excited to find out how this resurrection of Latavius is possible and what Lady Eve had to do with it. This has been the biggest twist yet! Now that we know people can come back from the dead, there’s a big possibility that Lady Eve may not be permanently dead. If this is the case, Tobias may be setting up more than he can handle.
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Lynn came around to the idea of her daughter using her superpowers quicker than expected. We’re glad that she’s giving Anissa her approval so that it leaves space for her to come to her mother were something to happen to her and she needed someone to talk to. Anissa is on her way to getting a suit and we can’t wait to see her in it and in action. Gambi’s indiscretions are starting to spill out and it’s causing some issues between him and Jefferson. It looks like we’ll get to see more of what has been going on with him in next week’s episode. Now that Gambi is losing Jefferson’s trust, he’s going to have to divulge some details on what he’s been up to in order to gain it back. The dynamic between the two is changing and it’s causing dysfunction where it doesn’t need to be.
Next week, Anissa gets some training from Black Lightning, while Jennifer (China Anne McClain) shadows Lynn at work. Gambi also finds himself in a precarious situation. We can’t wait to find out how the aftermath of this week’s episode plays out!
